Funny Zig, I typed up a reply earlier about almost going with Toyota last year when I needed a new car (was looking into the 2000's Corolla's which seem to have legendary ratings), but I ended up scoring a good 2002 Honda Civic.

It was a case of family knowing someone selling a car for a good price, so that's always been the best route for me. I've still only gone used, enjoying that cheap premium and all. The 2002 is the newest car I've ever owned.

I really, really dislike how electronic and plastic looking newer cars are. I almost got a newer 4 door Civic sedan, think it was maybe the 2010 model. But when I test drove it holy hell that thing ran like crap, it was insanely rough and felt terrible. I went from a 1995 Civic that felt like a go kart, but luckily my new one feels much heavier and better than that one. This is pretty much 100% on point:

My car history:1993 Town and Country monster thing1996 Acura TL, ran over a cylinder block one night that bent the frame. Went through 2+ radiators or something after that and it was never going to be the same again and always had overheating problems. Then the head gasket blew. I miss those leather seats and seat warmers!

The kicker is my Acura blew up within the same week I moved into my first apartment four years ago. So... unfortunately I was in emergency mode and had to buy something asap. Cue the Black Civic of death.

1995 Civic Black, I went about two years driving this without the odometer working... no worries! I got a good feel on the RPM's. It had so many other problems and became a ticking time bomb. Pretty sure I got jipped for what I paid for it. The mothers "son was a mechanic so he really made sure the oil leaks were plugged up!" yeah right. I just let it get towed for pennies. When I went ~70mph on the highway it seriously felt like one little pebble would have sent it crashing, so I avoided the highway all the time. The CD player never worked and I never bothered to replace it. Wheel bearing was all screwed. etc.

The 2002 Civic had one owner, all their car history and work done to it, etc. It was definitely a blessing!

@ziggy, yeah probably not fair of me to lump Toyota & Honda in the same bucket. I did pop the hood on a Toyota FJ Cruiser & was surprised to find the oil filter in a similar spot as that Subaru. Nice touch.

True regarding American trucks. The small block 4.8l V8 in my truck is known for its durability. My Dad's 1996 Silverado had that same block changed out as preventative maintenance at 300k miles

@xeo, we have often benefited from the family/friend car shuffle. I sold my wife's 200K mile 4Runner (which was a family hand down itself) for cash, then used that plus savings for a great cash price on her current GMC Terrain (mid size SUV)... from a tough seller... my mom. I gave her about 15% more than the dealership was going to. Both won.

One owner with a book of maintenence is huge. In general, just having a car where a book of maintenance was kept is a good sign.

Yeah, it's mainly the interior of newer cars that I was getting at. I don't know if they're scientifically getting more ergonomic or what, but it just seems super pointless how complicated the shapes and angles are, all the crazy dashboard stuff, etc. And then I've seen several cars with the weirdest deep angles for the entire front dashboard making it really hard to even see or know where the car is. 90's and 2000's cars had the best balance and were simple looking, spacious, and effective.

Kind of funny but I worked three years at a car shop at the end of high school in the mid 2000's. I guess that was the perfect time to be working on cars and get that kind of experience. Must have laid out my preferences for them as well.

Well my trip to the dealership didn't go so well. Admittedly, I have a short fuse for them, but I feel like it's justified after past experiences. Long story short, I have 13 months left on my Camry lease but I wanted to start investigating Tacomas now (but I'd be open to offers if they wanted to let me out of the lease early). Apparently people don't come into dealerships for research when they have year left on their lease because the salesman looked absolutely baffled when I told him this. Moreover, he was arguing with me over which options I wanted (sorry if I don't want the more expensive modes!) and wasn't very helpful overall.

You wanna be that way, car dealerships? OK, I wont buy a truck from you then. Go truck yourselves.

So I'm not sure what I'm gonna do, but I have two thoughts.

One, I finance a car and then just get a beater truck. The buyback on my Camry is something like $10k. I can either buy it out, or maybe step down to a Corolla for $10-12k (there's always a few Corollas on the lot at any given time in this price range) to get better MPG. Then, I'll just get a 1999-2009 pickup off Craigslist.

Or two, I'll go to the credit union and see if I can get a pre-approved auto loan. Then I'll go to the dealership and make them get me the model I want (this would save me about $12k versus what they typically have on the lot). This will be tricky though since they probably wont have what I want on the lot, which means they'll want to charge me something like $1000 for a "transportation and delivery" fee. I feel like I have a good argument for this though. They can either wave the delivery fee, or I don't buy a truck (and go with option one above).

I know I still have a year, but a year goes by so fast. And, if I go with option one, I could get a truck now versus having to wait another year.

Get out of the never ending bills of a lease car. Why not buy a two year factory certified used vehicle? Many have a better warranty then a new car off the lot. You save money not only on the cost of the vehicle, but also in lower registration and insurance. My two newest vehicles were both purchased at the two year mark.

Toyota Truck Trivia: I placed Mopar Hemi chrome letters on my 2002 Sequoya fenders which comes with a V8. Many newer vehicles have hemi engines easily spotted by location of the plug coils at the top of each valve cover.

Given the used prices on my vehicle, I actually just bought new. I saved for years, anyway. I'll be glad when I'm done paying it off, though, that'll be $400 in my pocket each month... enough to go grab a Turbo Duo.

Jagosaurus wrote:Then, as a whole maintenance is more expensive on German. Not trying to start a "car war" as they all have their issues. Just personally stating why I go American.

I would never buy an American car. At least, not until I start seeing 15 year old models driving around as frequent as Japanese cars. American trucks, well, that's a different story. They seem to last a long time. I'm not sure why America can't build cars as good as they build trucks.

I'm not trying to say this you are wrong, I'm sure the statistics say otherwise, but with trucks vs cars I think the differences in the buyer needs to be taken into account. Anecdotally, all of the people I know who get tricks tend to keep vehicles longer or have a heavy preference for certain years or "series" of vehicles vs the car buyers, who upgrade more often. Again, I'm probably wrong though.